It’s no surprise, really, but those who regularly use an e-book reader or an e-reader app on a mobile device are three times more likely to go online for medical information at least once a day than the general Internet population, according to a new study by Kantar Media.
Kantar Media’s MARS 2011 Online Behavior Study found that almost 28 million adults in the U.S. use e-books or e-reader apps downloaded from a mobile device, and just about all of them have used them at least once in the past 7 days. According to Kantar Media, this group is much more likely to go online to research health and wellness topics more than once a day compared to all users of the Internet, according to the multimedia analysis company. But maybe not so surprising, these e-reader users are older.
“While the normal perception of this engaged digital audience is that they are younger, we have found that 1 out of 4 of those who read e-books or use mobile e-reader apps are actually older than 50,” said Jayne Krahn, vice president, Consumer Health and Custom Research, Kantar Media, in the company’s press release. “Adding further to the understanding of these active e-patients, we found that 65 percent have been professionally diagnosed with a health condition in the last year with 1 out of 3 initiating the discussion with their doctor about their condition or specific treatment.”
The Kantar study also found that 71 percent of e-book and e-reader app users on a mobile device go online to learn more about a condition, “with 2 out of 3 researching symptoms for themselves or someone else,” and 61 percent, according to Kantar, to prepare for a doctor’s appointment.
Kantar reports that the study also showed a distinct difference in uses of the Internet for health and wellness information between e-book and e-reader app users and the rest of the Internet population.
Thirty-four percent of e-book readers and e-reader app users go online to research healthcare information or read blogs on a health topic, compared to less than six percent of non-mobile users, while 25 percent of e-book and e-apps users search electronically for drug interaction information, compared to less than 4 percent of non-mobile users.
Yet the California Healthcare Foundation (CHC), citing a joint Pew research study, found that 80 percent of all Internet users go online for healthcare information.
The Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project and the CHC found that a much larger proportion of Internet users overall look online for health information, “making it the third most popular online pursuit among all those tracked by the Pew Internet Project, following email and using a search engine,” according to the study.
The Pew study also found that young wealthy white women are among those most likely to use the Internet for healthcare.
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Deborah DiSesa Hirsch is an award-winning health and technology writer who has worked for newspapers, magazines and IBM in her 20-year career. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Jennifer Russell
